I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love the Fast and Furious movies.

I’ve watched as they’ve gone from ‘movies about fast cars’ to one of the biggest and most popular film series of all time – largely down to their move into the heist genre; gamely attempts to create even more insane stunts and set pieces than the last and, in no small part, to a series of big-name action heroes joining the ranks – or, should I say, the family.

But oddly, I’ve never thought that much about the cars themselves. Sure, they are a big part of the franchise’s joy – seeing exactly what they’ll launch a car off of / into next is always fun – but to me, they’ve always been just a vehicle (no pun intended) to tell the story of Dom Toretto and his crazy crew; not the story themselves. It didn’t really occur to me that the cars have always been the stars.

So, while I might be the biggest fan of the franchise – almost certainly in my demographic (30-something mum); possibly of my generation – but I am not what you call a petrolhead. You could fit what I know about cars on the back of a keyring.

It was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, therefore, that last week I ventured out to a top secret location for a sneak preview of Fast and Furious Live, the extravaganza coming to the O2 in January, billed as the ‘most spectacular live arena production ever.’

It was clear from the beginning that the pedigree was impeccable – it’s being produced by the team behind some of the world’s most successful car shows – but even hearing them talk so passionately about exactly why this was going to be just so spectacular had me a little cynical: just how different can a car show be, really? And as someone who knows little to nothing to about cars; how were they going to get me interested in it?

My real moment.

And then came Rowland French, creative director of Fast and Furious Live, who explained what we’re actually going to see and, I tell you what, I nearly married him. (Well, I would have if he wasn’t already married to the assistant choreographer of this show. Yes, it has a choreographer. More on that later.

Through a mixture of cutting-edge 3D projection mapping, special effects and stunt driving, the show will recreate some of the franchise’s most memorable stunts and setpieces; all brought together by a new ‘story’ created especially for the live show.

Not only have they found a way to make it seem like there’s a submarine floating underneath the floor of the O2 (yes, Fast 8’s standout chase will appear in the live show); there’s a narrative arc and – we were promised – special appearances by the much-loved cast. The creative team – especially French, who, to all intents and purposes conceived and created the entire show from scratch – have cannily recognised and embraced all of the elements of the Fast and Furious movies that the fans love; and found a way to channel that into an incredibly ambitious, enjoyable, immersive experience that is more akin to theatrical production than consumer show.

Sticking to the magic rule of show, don’t tell, we were then duly treated to a pretty special taster of what to expect. After spending two minutes watching the drivers in action, and then another 90 seconds in ‘stunt school’ where I was driven by Jonny one of the show’s 11 elite precision drivers, rigorously selected from thousands of the world’s best) I was Googling ‘precision driving courses’ .

Not only was it wholly exhilarating; the skill of these drivers is something to behold.

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Naomi French, the aforementioned assistant choreographer, described exactly why she has that title: because stunt driving is “like dancing, except it’s completely organic – a car can understeer, or power down too much: there’s a lot of things that can happen that can knock it out of sequence. And then we start adding pyrotechnics, and stunts – if you don’t have someone that can rechoreograph really quickly if something goes wrong, then the whole show stops.” Not your average car show.

As for the cars, as I’ve said, I didn’t ever think that I’d have any emotional connection to the actual cars in movies. Sure, I love Dom, I love Hobbs, I love the crazy stunts and the giddy silliness of it all (Dame Helen Mirren playing Jason Statham’s cockney gangster Mum? AMAZING) but a car is a car, right? WRONG. Seeing Brian O Connor’s (Paul Walker) Supra was bittersweet; and the Flip Car from Fast 6 elicited an actual whoop. Finally, there was the perfect replica of Dom’s Dodge Charger. I had a real MOMENT. And then I got the chance to actually sit in it; and it was love at first rev.

So, I’m off to finish investigating stunt driving courses. But first, I’ll be booking my tickets for a front row seat next January.

FAST & FURIOUS 8 IS AVAILABLE NOW ON DIGITAL AND ON BLU-RAY AND DVD ON OCTOBER 16 AND FAST & FURIOUS LIVE OPENS ON JANUARY 19 2018 AT THE 02